Ever Since Radio - Ocean City, Punk Rock

In the beginning, there was Orange Avenue. A Ska band who originated from Ocean City, Maryland. The members included, Cheyne Truitt on vocals, Ryan West on drums, Ben Karten on Kazoo, Eric Powers on guitar, Noah Lieb on Trumpet, Travis Weirango on Bass, and Mark Shaw on Trombone.

For a year or more the band was together writing original songs such as, Taking Britney Spears to the Prom and The Lessons of Life. If any of you still have this music on CD, please be kind and rip a copy for me. It would be greatly appreciated. mark@markshaw.us

The band was doing great for a time. They played at a Battle of the Bands contest at Warped Tour in 2000, Cheyne got a towel thrown at him from Mike Dirnt from Green Day, Mark stood behind El Hefe from NoFX in line for Tacos after the show, and Ryan threw up in front of some girls because for some reason he had a wrist bracelet that allowed him to drink alcohol even though he was only 17. Orange Ave continuously played in the Ocean City area for many big acts such at The Skatalites, one of the very first Ska Bands, and also had regular appearances at Brewmaster's Pub for a good while. One time they played on the big giant deck on top of SunDancer Surf Shop RIGHT after the fireworks finished on 4th of July. The parking lot became flooded with people, and they jammed out for a good while until the cops shut them down.

Their fan base slowly grew as the kids started opening their eyes and ears to different styles of music. Especially punk and ska.

Simultaneously other bands in the area were popping up as well such as Means to Be. Consisting of Jake Hileman from the celebrated Closer I Get rock band, and drummer Brandon Helmuth. Means to Be, a punk band who like us all, started off by playing punk rock covers, and eventually branched off to become true artists that had many fans. And of course we can't forget Envy, the band where Jamie Paul and Brandon Cater first started. It was great how we were all there to witness the uprising of our scene. Another band that I'll never forget were good friends of mine throughout high school and were in a band known as Big T.T. Chicken, that stayed together as a band for many years and played quite a few shows with Orange Ave and Ever Since Radio at Brewmasters. John Center was one of the lead singers and who recently left this world. As well as James Dufendock who was also a lead singer (which made things pretty unique), Piggy on drums, Tony Townsend on Bass, and even Matt Center on Guitar. Hope you all are doing well.

I'd like to talk about John Center for a moment, and how he too had a very big impact on my musical adventure. I wanted to be involved with anything music related when I was at school. Being a band geek already helped me to discover the real meaning of performing and composing music. In the latter part of my junior year, I got asked by our Chorus teacher at the time, Mrs. Flicker to join the Choir. Not many people thought Chorus was for "cool" people, but who gives a shit. John Center certainly didn't give a shit. And he went off to play some serious heavy metal. This is something I deeply respected about John. When I first joined the Choir, John and I were basically the only 2 guys in the whole class. The basses. He taught me quite a bit about singing and sight reading vocal music. It is a good thing he was there, because I would of sounded like an idiot without him. I'll really miss you John. He really helped me learn to sing in general. The traditional way. If I wasn't in Chorus, I probably wouldn't have the vocal ability that eventually helped me in Art of Mary as you will later find out in my story.

During 2001, Orange Avenue was in the basement of the famous Crest House in West Ocean City on Route 707, that is now torn down. On a few occasions, drummer Brandon Helmuth from Means to Be came to jam with the remaining Orange Avenue members, Cheyne Truitt, Mark Shaw, and Eric Powers. For a few sessions, Lou Kohley actually came to play with us. What an amazing addition he was. He later went off to school in Shenandoah. We later invited Alexx Hall to play on bass. Alexx was very excited to get to play with us. As a five member band, we were able to keep the jams tight, and with Brandon's new influence, the music sounded better than ever. A party in the basement was the last time I remember jamming with those guys as Orange Avenue. A couple silent months later, the band was declared broken up because "ska died".

Cheyne and Brandon continued to play for Means to Be for a time. A pretty short time. Approximately 6 months to a year after Orange Ave was done for, a new band was created. Art of Mary, who consisted of Cheyne Truitt on Vocals, Alexx Hall on bass, Brandon Helmuth on Drums, Mark Shaw on guitar, and for a short time, Eric Powers on guitar as well. Their name was inspired by Mary Helmuth, mother of Brandon Helmuth who tragically passed away from cancer a few years prior.

Art of Mary eventually left the basement of the Crest House and moved to the warehouse of RedSun, graphic designers and printery. There was a mini-ramp half pipe in that bitch, and I busted my ass several times trying to learn how to drop-in. Unfortuantely after a while we got kicked out, so we were on the search for a new location. We ended up moving to Alexx's house where the was an abandoned spooky log-cabin full of vintage dentistry equipment, old Apple computers, and one special room where we would bring the thunder. Did I mention this cabin was on an Emu farm back in the country? There were many good times at the cabin. Many songs that were written, many guests that joined us, and many FREEZING fucking cold nights when we were practicing. Some pretty fuckin hot ones too.

Mary Helmuth meant a lot to many people. Including me. Back in 4th grade, the students were finally able to decide whether or not to join the band class. You had to have an instrument of course if you wanted to join. A big meeting was gathered at the end of the school day, and the company Salisbury Music was there to see if parents were interested in buying, or renting an instrument for their kid. The whole time I was sitting next to my mom, praying to God that she'd buy me a saxophone. The orders began taking place and the man in charge said, "Please have your credit cards ready". At that point, my mom completely backed off.

She told me, "Mark, I'm very sorry hun, but I don't have a credit card. We cannot afford this". I pleaded with her for a while because I wanted to play more than anything. A woman near by heard me pleading with my mom to get a saxophone, and my mom continued to say, "Mark, we just can't do it.". The woman said to my mom, "Well hey there Mrs. Shaw," (my mom was a teacher's aide) "My Daughter has an old flute back from when she used to play. Mark is more than welcome to borrow it if he wants to!" I eagerly agreed. From that day on, I was a flutist. I got made fun of constantly of course. But that didn't stop me from playing. By the way, that woman was Mary Helmuth if you didn't already guess. I owe a lot to that woman. My life could be entirely different if I didn't pick up that flute. I thank the Lord for people like her. I only hope I can do the same for someone at some point in time in my life.

Some shows that Art of Mary played to take note of, was our first big show as a full band, played at The Vault in Baltimore. We were surprisingly the headlining act, and got our band name printed on our first official Ticket Master ticket. We later realized that this really wasn't that big of a deal, and the Vault was a kinda shitty place to play unless you had LOTS of people planned on coming. But nonetheless, it was a good time and a learning experience.

For many months Art of Mary wrote complicated yet satisfying music inspired by punk rock, indie, metal and hardcore. Some of our major influences at the time were Lifetime, Kid Dynamite, Strung Out, The Foo Fighers, In Flames, and many others. We played many shows in the Ocean City and Baltimore area. We all thought the music was pretty unique in a way.

One day, Cheyne got pretty sick. He was a tough singer that did a lot of screaming. The doctor told him that his throat could get screwed up and have some serious damage if he wasn't careful. During this time, the band had some arguments about what to do. Some of the members wanted to put Cheyne on guitar and have him stop singing all together. Cheyne was persistant and wanted to sing and be the frontman. The band didn't agree, and for about 1-2 months Cheyne quit Art of Mary. During that time the guys in band offered me the position of singing. One day at practice we just tried it, and they liked it. From then on I played guitar and sang. It was an entirely new band after that. I never had done such a thing before, and it took me a good while to get used to things and gain real confidence. Confidence I didn't gain until late in Ever Since Radio's lifespan.

But about a month later, Cheyne called us up and said, "Well, ya know I guess I'll play guitar for you guys" and we gladly let him back in the band. Many more great shows were played and many great jams were written. Some songs to take note of were "Lillies and Orchids Forever", "5000 Shades of Red", and "Don't tell the giver".

After a time, in 2002, during our peak, Brandon gets an urge. We all get urges sometimes, and if we don't move forth with those urges, we could end up regretting it. He received an offer to move to California to play music with a popular hardcore band. Forgive me for not remembering their name. I wanna say, "Breathe In" ? Or was that Bart's band? Email me to correct me. I'd like to keep this page somewhat historically accurate.

At that time, Art of Mary had no idea what to do. Being that Brandon wasn't in the band any more, he didn't want us to keep the name, Art of Mary. We had some arguments about this, but eventually agreed that it just wouldn't be right to keep the name. For a couple days Alexx and Cheyne vigorously brainstormed for some band names. I can't remember any of the ones they made up, but one day they cornered me and said, "Dude, Ever Since Radio... "

At first I freakin' hated it. I was like, "You guys are totally lame". But eventually I learned to like it as we began to start playing again. We had no idea what to do for a drummer. We thought of drummers for a while with no luck, then one day Alexx and I were like, "Cheyne could try to play drums I guess". I had little faith at first. I thought that it would be even lamer than ever! But I was dead wrong. I never have seen a musician pick up an instrument so quickly. After some practice and many new originals, Cheyne became a pretty damn good drummer.

When we first introduced ourselves as Ever Since Radio, it was very interesting. We played quite a few shows. The music became MUCH less complicated, and much more solid. Not to mention, very catchy. We were still considering ourselves pretty much a punk band, but kind of a rock band, or an indie band. A little mix of it all. Every song was a bit different, but our influences shun through. Foo Fighters, Hot Water Music, Akaline Trio, NoFX, The Promise Ring, Johnny Cash, Cursive, Taking Back Sunday, Propagandhi, Modest Mouse, CRASH TEST DUMMIES, were all major influences to our music at the time. Being that we listened to them OVER and OVER again while on tour.

Speaking of which, we were one of the first bands of our generation in the Ocean City area that did any touring. Notably, our tour to Canada and back was pretty god damn fun. We were with our buddies from Thin Dark Line, to who I still communicate with nowadays and who are amazing friends. Bryan Barnes, Brent, Mike Barnes, you guys are the best, and I love your new North Col band! We had so many good times during our tour. So many free CDs were handed out to people. I hope some people out there still have them, and still jam out to them. I made some great friends on that trip. I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to experience such a thing.

Some songs to remember were, "South", "The Loudest Silence", "The heroes of rock (THOR) yea REAL funny Cheyne!!!", "All is Well", "Common Lies", "Can I Crash (which was the name of Cheyne's acoustic solo project he had for a while)", "Sick, Tired, Alone", "Front and Center", "Burning Miles", and "Splitting the Signal". Many more songs were written and played, but unfortunately they were never recorded.

We had a couple radio appearances as well thanks to our dear friend Mark Figueiredo (Mark 93.5) who featured us on his radio show, "Local Produce" a known favorite to many radio listeners in the area. This show in particular was a contributing factor to the success of a lot of the local bands in our area. Not only would he give bands FREE promotion, but every week Mark would play the local bands' songs during his interviews as well. So it was fun for the bands, and it was fun for the locals in the area because they are hearing music that they might not get to hear because they weren't show-goers. Mark did an incredible amount donated work in which allowed for the promotion of many local bands in the area, and definitely had a huge part in making our scene what it was.

Other shows definitely worth remembering was the Annual PhilPhest hosted by our great friend Phillip Mills. I don't know how this guy did it, but every year there would literally be hundreds of kids showing up in Dundalk, Maryland, to get together for one of the biggest rock events that area has ever seen. It seems to me, that events like this are what started giving me a lot more confidence with Ever Since Radio and playing in other areas of the state other than our hometown. Every year we would have a great time, and we met many people and made many friends. I salute Phil Mills for putting on some of the best rock shows I've ever seen. Such diversity, so many different genres of music, and everyone had a great time regardless of what kind of band was playing.

Ever Since Radio also played the Battle of the Bands at Warped Tour in 2004. We had a HUGE bus ride all managed and organized by our good friend Meghan Littleton. There was way over 50 people that drove on the bus with us all the way from OC to Virginia. What a great time. I can't thank you enough, those who came and experienced that day. Meghan also helped out tremendously with the shows at 17th Street. She was there for just about every show we ever had and greeted the people at the door as well as performed many other tasks to make the shows happen. Thank you so much Meghan.

The band became increasingly popular as we played in numerous areas all through the Mid-Atlantic area. With our own venue at home, "17th Street, St. Mary's Church Hall", we had a place to play whenever we wanted. We invited MANY bands to come and play at the Church such as, Strike Anywhere, Trial By Fire, Calibretto 13 who fucking shat in a bowl of ice, Burning Spear the reggae super stars, The Frauds, and of course all the local favorites such as December Tragic, our dear brother-band who had Jamie Paul on vocals and guitar, Lee Griffith (sorry if it's Griffin) on bass, and Cla Denkmeyer on drums. An amazing trio who did many great things in their day. I'll always remember "Lighthouse Sound". It is to my understanding that are all still good friends. I wish you all the best. Head Up, another local favorite who were awesome friends of mine, was another band that I'll always remember, and played many shows at 17th Street. Matt Bauer and Sean Maphis I miss you guys, hope you guys are doing great out there. Wherever the hell you're at.

I also cannot forget to mention the Lower Class Citizens who IS STILL playing and keeping the scene alive with their awesome original music. A group of incredibly talented musicians who will always be dear friends of mine. You can find out all about them at www.lowerclasscitizens.com

For a while, we were just a Trio, and were damn happy being a Trio. One day we decided to get another guitarist. It all started after a Halloween show in Salisbury at some VFW that my buddy JP was hosting with his band Lurch (who later became my roommate and great friend). Lurch played many shows at 17th Street too, as some of you may well remember. We got reacquainted with an old friend that Halloween, John Watkins who we eagerly asked to join our band just for the hell of it. I mean c'mon this is JOHN FREAKIN WATKINS here. Who wouldn't want him to join right? He was a wild and crazy guitarist that we all loved and so did our fans. We all knew him from high school, considering none of us who probably be playing punk rock if it wasn't for him and his band in highschool.

We eventually had a falling out with John because the band felt he may have been a little too crazy and didn't quite fit in. The band felt guilty about this decision and did some pretty childish shit to avoid John at all costs, and not tell him that he was out of the band for a long time. This was a stupid move by the band. We were a pretty fucking stupid band at times and made some pretty god damn stupid decisions. Stupid moves like this are what made the band gain bad karma that surrounded Ever Since Radio thereafter for years to come. Something I'll deeply regret for a long time that is for sure. So to John Watkins, I do apologize for this childish act. We have been lucky enough to put this behind us, and still remain distant friends. That I am thankful for. John has recently been successful in playing with The Frauds, another local OC band that is beyond words. "Church of Seduction" is a masterpiece.

Ever Since Radio eventually obtained a manager by the name of Greg Weiss from "PFC Entertainment". Greg thoroughly enjoyed us as a group of people, and as a band. He arranged a few shows for us in New York, and we did some little tours with The AKAs from time to time, and he supposedly sent out our press kits to some record labels. I never knew if this was true. But soon after he became our manager things started to get a little fishy.

Not too long after, Cheyne's mom Leslie Bowman was going to the hospital due to some back problems she was having. It was because of bone cancer we later found out. This was an incredible shock to many people. Leslie was always a hard working single mom who constantly took care of Cheyne and his sister Catie. I was particularly fond of her because she too treated me like a son. All I'd have to do is fix her computer, and I'd get fed. You can't beat that. Especially from a true Italian. I have many memories with Leslie, and I'll always remember how strong she really was. The day she passed was heart breaking to us all. Especially Cheyne. But I can't believe how strong Cheyne was through that whole ordeal. I didn't think someone so close to me could just pass away like that.

I didn't believe it at first. I do regret not being there for Cheyne as much as I should have. I was more so just patting him on the back, rather than being the brother I should have been. This I will regret, and I do believe this too was a contributing factor to what I mention in the next chapter. On a brighter note, Leslie will always be remembered in my book as one of the most important people, and her death will be one of the most important events that has ever occurred in my life.

I'll never know who to blame, if anybody, for the reason Ever Since Radio made yet another drastic (STUPID) move. They say it's because I smoked too much pot, they say it's because I wasn't dedicated enough, they say it's because I wanted to spend too much time with my new girlfriend at the time, Andrea. I'll never really know the entire truth. But my assumption is that I was slowly but surely losing my coolness, and my inspiration. I gained some weight, and I didn't manage to write any new tunes for a while. I did have a lot going on at the time such as a couple car accidents, a shitty job, some court cases which caused me to lose my license for a time and spend lots of money, as well as many other things that decided to take a big ass shit on me.

But the day did ultimately come, after a retarded show at Coyotes in SEAFORD FUCKIN DELAWARE. Not too long before this show, Eric Powers came back in to the picture after years of not seeing him. It was really awesome to play with him again. I had forgotten why I was such good friends with him. We agreed on a lot stuff, and he was a true hearted friend that I will never forget. We gladly accepted his offer to play guitar in our band. I'm sorry to say he had to move from his home in Silver Springs and leave his job just to play for some shitty band, but his dedication moved me.

So Eric, Cheyne, and Alexx all cornered me after the Coyotes show, which sucked anyway, and basically told me they want to really make this band popular. They tell me, "Mark, you gotta quit smoking pot, you can't be that devoted to your girlfriend, and you have to start singing more poppy music". They knew I wouldn't abide by these rules, so after that day, I was officially kicked out of Ever Since Radio. It's funny how people make the comparison of Bands and Girlfriends. They are almost one in the same. Well, they equally hurt just as bad if you ever lose them. And for months, and years, and to this day, I'm still pretty depressed about losing what was once my dream.

I decided to try and forget this whole mess. I tried to put it all aside and act like it never happened. But I always have one of those days when I'm super bored, and there is nothing to do, I'll put on one of our old records. And the memory stays alive. I can still remember all the words, and I can still remember the guitar parts. Those days are the most depressing. But what made me laugh, is what became of Ever Since Radio after I was kicked out. There were two generations that remember Ever Since Radio. My generation, and those who remember me as the singer and contributing song writer. And then there's those who remember the New Ever Since Radio. The Myspace generation. Needless to say, their "brilliant plan of kicking Mark out" completely backfired and they got some more shows and a little bit more fame, but all in all, it eventually went down the shitter.

I don't know much of the history of the band after I was gone. But I knew it wasn't me, and it was nothing more than a name.

Life is great nowadays all things considered. Of course I miss the music, but growing up, getting married, buying a house and thinking about having kids has made it all worth it. I wouldn't be where I am today if things didn't happen the way they did. I have that to be thankful for. I'd probably still be some has-been musician dying for Rockstardom and getting nowhere in life if it wasn't for being kicked out.

All in all I wouldn't change a thing about the past. Maybe things do happen for a reason. Maybe if I would of done things a certain way I could of prevented certain things from happening. These are questions that I'm tired of asking myself. I want to remember the band for what was great about it. Not the bad stuff. So needless to say, I registered EverSinceRadio.com to remember the history of Ocean City, Punk Rock. The whole purpose for me playing music is to give my art away for free. When you write music, it is for the people.

The most important thing about starting a band is knowing your core values. Knowing the whole reason you started a band, and sticking with that motto. Obviously, if you start a band to make money and that is your core value, then good luck with it. You probably won't have the most fun, or have any luck. One of the reasons I loved Ever Since Radio so much is because we started this band because of how pissed off we were at the record industry. We had a lot of angst, and it definitely showed in our music. But those core values are what kept us together and rocking for the years the *real* Ever Since Radio existed. So if you want to play in a band, have a good reason for it. If you expect to have any fun at all, then for Christ's sake it better be a better reason than, "to make money". And if your primary ambition is to make money with your music, then expect to fail eventually, or just stick to playing covers. Very few people make it to the top. Usually the ones that do are playing with members they don't even know or love, and are playing songs that suck complete balls. The money will come to you eventually. If you are true, and you write music that you love, the fans and the money will come to you so that you can continue to support your passion.

It makes you feel good to finally overcome something that can make you feel sad for such a long time. I know that the music will always be there. I know that I will play music for the rest of my life. I know most importantly, that there are people out there that will never forget the original Orange Avenue, Art of Mary, and Ever Since Radio.

One last thing I did want to mention, is that Cheyne and I are on good terms. Although we don't speak to each other much, it is always really nice to hear from him. He'll always be my brother, and I hope to one day hang out, drink a beer, and talk about the good ol' days. Maybe Alexx too, but that's being pretty god damn forgiving.

There was SO much more that happened in ESR, but I feel that most of the important stuff was mentioned in my story. I would definitely like to add more information as time goes by. It'd be wonderful to hear from anyone who is willing to contribute.

If you have information or music that you'd like to contribute to our site, please feel free to reach me at mark@markshaw.us

I will gladly accept Pictures, Music or other media if available.

I'll probably be updating this from time to time, so feel free to come back and check out my additions.